


Kill The Momentum

by halahan



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Break Up, Established Relationship, Love Triangles, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Break Up, Rating May Change, Time Loop, no beta we die like men, not sure yet - Freeform, technically? idk, uhhhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27515407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halahan/pseuds/halahan
Summary: It’s 8AM sharp when Hongjoong wakes up for the first time.Hongjoong has gotten stuck in other people's time loops nine times already. Never had he thought that the tenth one would fall on the day Seonghwa breaks up with him.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kim Hongjoong, Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	Kill The Momentum

**Author's Note:**

> the legend says that one day i'll be able to finish a chaptered fic... wish me luck (and maybe leave kudos and comments cause actually that would help,,)  
> but like im hoping i'll be able to update regularly i can't promise anything tho
> 
> ALSO: no promises on the endgame <3

It’s 8AM sharp when Hongjoong wakes up for the first time.

He groans and turns the alarm off without opening an eye. He’s done this plenty of time, it’s just part of the routine, but he still can’t get used to the blaring of it, this time like many others choosing to bury himself under the covers just a minute more. He stays in his bed’s warmth, chasing after the dream his clock has brutally interrupted. It was actually pretty pleasant and– and it’s gone already. Hongjoong sighs and sits up before he falls back asleep.

Mondays are recognized universally to be the worst day of the week, but Hongjoong thinks people don’t talk about Tuesdays enough. Sure, Mondays mean that the weekend is over, but at least you get to see your friends again, tell them about everything that happened during the past two days, whereas Tuesdays are just boring. You feel just as far away from the next weekend, you have nothing new to tell, and Hongjoong has two hours of calculus just after lunch break. That should be enough to move Tuesdays to the trash tier along with Mondays.

Hongjoong yawns, stretching his arms above his head. He can already hear his parents getting busy in the kitchen, the coffee machine brewing loudly, and the clinking of dishes on the table covering any conversation the two might be having. Although knowing his family, Hongjoong guesses there isn’t much conversation, not at this hour and not without coffee. Hongjoong gets up and walks to the bathroom like a zombie, quickly finding the sink and opening the tab to splash his face with water, ridding his eyes of any gunk that the night might have left. Face clean and eyes open at last, Hongjoong looks at his reflection. His bleached hair sticks out in various directions and his roots are starting to grow out, as in the hair at the base of his neck, but one short shower and some styling after and it looks alright again. Once satisfied with his hair, he goes back to his room and picks out an outfit. He opts for something simple, some light wash jeans and a plain t-shirt that no one will see anyway since he covers it with a large sweater with a colorful pattern. It was his last birthday gift from Seonghwa, and Hongjoong thinks for a moment that he’ll have to force his boyfriend to wear it again soon because his scent is starting to wear off a little. It’s still there, but barely.

“Hongjoong honey,” Ms. Kim’s voice calls from down the stairs, “are you up?”

“Yeah I’m up!” he shouts back, gathering his things before coming down the stairs and settling at the kitchen table. A cup of coffee is waiting for him next to a bowl of cereal so he puts his bag down and his phone face down on the counter to enjoy it before the drink gets cold and the food gets soft. He thanks his mother between bites, assuring her he slept fine when she asks.

On the counter, Hongjoong’s phone pings softly but Hongjoong ignores it, instead finishing his breakfast and getting up to clean his dishes. Through the window above the sink, Hongjoong can see the sky. It’s grey and sad, the light low and the clouds lower. He sighs.

“It’s supposed to rain soon,” his mother informs as she dries his bowl and sets in back into the cupboard, “but it won’t last long, the news said it’ll clear out a bit before noon.”

Hongjoong nods. That’s good since his afternoon club activities were supposed to happen outside this time. The young man rinses his hands off one last time, gives his mother’s cheek a kiss then takes his phone and bag, sliding into his shoes at the door and grabbing an umbrella before leaving out the door, wishing his parents a good day.

With his bag secured around his torso and his shoes laced, Hongjoong gets his phone out, finally checking the missed notifications. There aren’t a lot, a few likes on his recent tweet—it’s a dumb one, but knowing that other people seem to enjoy his dumb content keeps him from deleting it—and one text message. It’s from Seonghwa and Hongjoong smiles at the contact name for a second before shaking his head. He looks away from the screen to cross the road before looking back, opening the notification.

_Can you bring me my leather jacket back?_

Hongjoong lets out a small huff. “Ah, I should’ve checked it before leaving the house...”

He types out a reply quickly— _didn’t see ur text in time sorry :( i’ll bring it tmr!!—_ before plugging his earphones in and starting his playlist.

True to Hongjoong’s mother prediction, the rain starts falling a couple of minutes into Hongjoong’s walk to high school. He pockets his phone to prevent any damage the water could do to his poor cracked-screen device and deploys the umbrella above his head. He likes rain, and it fits with the beats in his ears as it slowly covers everything around Hongjoong in a dark and shiny layer. A little rain never hurt anyone is how the quote goes, doesn’t it?

Soon enough—or too soon, in Hongjoong’s opinion—he arrives at destination, the walls of his local high school standing proud under the rain. The students that forgot their umbrellas and don’t have hoods are less proud, hurrying inside the building, and Hongjoong follows behind. He folds the umbrella once he stands where it’s safe again and makes his way towards Seonghwa’s locker.

They made it a habit to meet there because it’s the closest to the entrance, and indeed after only a few steps, Hongjoong spots his boyfriend and San talking actively. Probably about drama club stuff, since that’s how Seonghwa met the junior. Hongjoong skips towards them, his smile widening the closer he gets to the other senior. He stops once he reaches them and lightly taps Seonghwa’s shoulder.

“Good morning,” Hongjoong sing-songs as the older turns around, standing on his toes to kiss him once his face is within reach.

“Morning, Hongjoong,” Seonghwa greets with a small smile. Hongjoong frowns.

“Is something troubling you?”

Seonghwa looks at San for an instant but the latter shrugs and waves before leaving them alone. Seonghwa lets out a small sigh before brushing his thumb on Hongjoong’s chin. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later. Meet me after club?”

“Like every Tuesday,” Hongjoong nods.

Seonghwa repeats the words with the same small smile as before. It looks a little hesitating and pained, but if he says not to worry about it then Hongjoong doesn’t worry about it—or at least he pretends not to—and accepts to wait until they’re just the two of them.

Hongjoong starts to go in for a hug, but Seonghwa doesn’t let him as he turns back to close his locker and put his bag back on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay with you right now, I have something to do before class.”

“It’s okay,” Hongjoong chirps, waving at him and wishing him good luck as the tall brunette walks away. “Hate to see you leave but love to watch you go!” He can guess Seonghwa’s eye roll even as he disappears in the next hallway. There’s a scoff behind him, coming from his own classmate, Yeosang.

Hongjoong turns around to face him and raises an eyebrow, defying. “What?”

“I just think that’s disgusting.”

Hongjoong scoffs, making his way to his own locker as Yeosang follows. “So when I say it it’s disgusting but when Wooyoung says it it’s cheesy and endearing?”

“Obviously, you’re very different from Wooyoung, the rules that apply to him don’t apply to you.”

“Thank God,” Hongjoong jokes as he grabs his books and stuff them in his bag, “I would be horrified if you suddenly tried to suck face with me.”

Yeosang rolls his eyes but he laughs. They walk to class together and settle at their desks, Yeosang’s in the row before his, close to the window. They talk a bit about all and nothing (mostly nothing,) before soon the bell rings. Hongjoong looks next to him at the empty seat and calls Yeosang again.

“Where’s Yunho?”

“He missed his bus, he should be here any minute.”

Hongjoong nods and focuses on class. Indeed, a few minutes later, Yunho walks in and apologizes, barely getting any reprimands from the teacher. “Lucky I’m her favorite,” the tall friend chuckles as he takes his seat next to Hongjoong.

There’s more truth to it than Hongjoong would like, when the teacher asks the class to hand over their assignments and Hongjoong realizes he left his on his desk. _Classic Hongjoong_ , he scolds himself.

“Classic from Mr Kim,” the teacher scolds. (It’s different when she says it.) “I’m tired of this attitude,” she adds before turning to the whole class, “don’t bother handing anything late again this semester, late work will be graded an automatic F.”

The class groans out complaints and Hongjoong wants to complain too, but no words leave his open mouth. Next to him, Yunho looks sheepish.

“Sorry hyung I jinxed it,” he whispers, but Hongjoong shakes his head, telling him it’s not his fault.

It hasn’t happened that many times, in Hongjoong’s opinion, but no matter how unfair it seems to him, he keeps quiet and takes notes on the lecture. It’s just one F, and it’s not even 20% of his grade, he can fix this, especially in literature. No matter how much the teacher seems to hate him, she can’t deny he’s good.

  
  


Hongjoong spends the whole duration of AP History and lunch break complaining about the teacher, though. He stops complaining in Calculus—first of all, because neither Yunho nor Yeosang share that class with him, and because he actually needs to be focused if he doesn’t want to fail—but as soon as club activities start, Yeosang becomes his victim again after having escaped it to eat with Wooyoung at lunch.

He doesn’t spend the _whole time_ complaining, he diverges many times on different subjects, and okay, _maybe_ , the conversation often drifts back to the teacher and the unfairness of the educational system, but he also expresses how grateful he is that the sun has made an appearance again.

  
  


When the clock finally hits 5pm, Yeosang bids him goodbye and bolts to meet up with his boyfriend again. Hongjoong sighs but he does the same, walking towards the picnic table in front of the library where like every Tuesday and Friday at the same hour, a black-haired boy awaits.

“Hey babe,” Hongjoong greets Seonghwa again with a cheeky smirk, but instead of going in for a kiss like the latter usually does, he stands up.

“Hongjoong there’s something that I needed to tell you about,” Seonghwa starts, seriousness on his face.

Hongjoong nods, “the thing that was troubling you this morning?”

“Mhm yes well… It’s been troubling me for a few days already, actually.”

Hongjoong frowns, but he tries his best to shake the bad feeling off. If Seonghwa has kept it for himself, he surely had a good reason. Even Hongjoong, a mostly honest person, has his secrets. So he sits down and gestures at Seonghwa to do the same, but the older doesn’t follow.

“So, um… I don’t– I don’t really know how to say this but...” He takes in a breath, shaking his hands to get rid of the nerves. “I think… I think we should take a break.”

The words hit Hongjoong like a bucket of iced water. “You– you _what_?” he squeaks out.

“I think we should—”

“You want to break up?”

“No, I said—”

“I know what you said, Seonghwa. But I also know you don’t believe in breaks.”

Seonghwa sighs and looks away. His silence hurts Hongjoong even more, and before he knows it, tears are flowing down his cheeks.

“You– Why? I thought we were over that little fight?”

“We were!” Seonghwa responds with more force, making Hongjoong flinches at the tone. “We were, we are, I don’t know why you’re even bringing it up!”

“Don’t blame me! I just– I don’t—”

“Well, it doesn’t matter I just need a break, to think and… And I’ll tell you how I feel after.”

Hongjoong wipes his tears, scoffing. “And what? When is _after_?”

“I don’t know!” Seonghwa shouts again, throwing his arms in the air before nervously threading a hand through his silky hair. “I don’t know.”

Hongjoong sniffles. They’re quiet for a moment, before Seonghwa takes his bag and starts to look like he’s going to leave.

“So you’re not even going to t-tell me why?” Hongjoong hiccups again, his pain tainting his tone with something somewhat similar to anger. “You’re just going to w-walk away and expect me to wait?”

“I told you I–” he sighs, facing Hongjoong, “so what? You want me to tell you to go see other people? Do that if you want to, but if you do surely that will give me an answer.” He turns again, walking away. Hongjoong jumps to his feet, grabbing Seonghwa’s arm in a desperate gesture.

“Wait, Hwa!” The older boy ignores him, breaking Hongjoong’s hold. “Hwa, don’t leave– d-don’t—”

But Seonghwa ignores him again, letting Hongjoong drop to his knees and cry. His chest throbs with the cries, his hands barely holding the tears as they fall on the ground.

This couldn’t be the end, not like that. He’s confused, and it hurts so _so_ much. Hongjoong’s never been broken up with, he’s always the one breaking up with his partners, but this isn’t even comparable because Seonghwa… _Seonghwa_ is not comparable. Seonghwa is everything Hongjoong could have dreamed of, he’s the perfect student, the perfect son, the perfect man, and he had been the perfect boyfriend for almost a year, and suddenly what… It’s over? It hurts in Hongjoong’s ribcage, it hurts in his throat and it hurts in his heart.

Just as he catches his breath, wiping his nose and mouth with the sleeve of the sweater that still smells faintly of _him_ , he sees in the corner of his eye that he’s not alone anymore. The spot is quiet, yes, but it’s still on the school grounds, and students go back and forth next to it from time to time. Unfortunately for Hongjoong, this is one of those times, and just a couple feet away stand three freshmen, whispering amongst themselves and throwing Hongjoong pitiful looks.

“Don’t need-d your fucking pity,” he spits too low for the students to hear him. He gets back on his feet, face burning in shame as he grabs his bag and walks away. He doesn’t bother going back inside to put his books back in his locker, not wanting to expose his tear-torn face to any more people.

He feels small and stupid as he walks home, wondering about why, _why_ , this is happening, but unable to find any answers.

When he pushes his front door open, he doesn’t bother answering his father’s concerned question, heading straight to his room and locking himself in, burying himself under his covers.

Somehow it seems he has enough tears to last him hours on end as no matter how much he cries, they won’t stop flowing. In his head, memories of Seonghwa play over and over again, without Hongjoong being able to do anything to stop it. All he can do is cry, shout and crumble the paper that sits on his desk throwing it in the trash like he wishes he could do with his feelings.

A break. A _break_. Seonghwa has never been someone that believed in breaks, why would he impose it on Hongjoong now?

“Fucking coward,” Hongjoong snarls, his heartache going back and forth between laments and anger, “didn’t have the f-fucking _balls_ to t-tell me he wanted to end– to end–”

It goes on until sundown, and it’s exhausting but Hongjoong can’t get out of it, throwing his phone to the wall when he receives a text notification. He doesn’t care whether it was Seonghwa or not, he doesn’t care whether the phone breaks or not. The tears tire Hongjoong out, and only once he’s fallen asleep do they stop.

* * *

It’s 8AM sharp when Hongjoong wakes up for the second time.

Once again, the alarm is discarded quickly, but this time Hongjoong lets himself brew in his bedsheets. It wasn’t a good night of sleep, and even if Hongjoong doesn’t feel physically tired, his heart and head pull him towards sleep again. He lets them, just for a moment.

“Honey,” his mother calls, knocking on his door, “don’t forget to get up!”

Hongjoong sighs. _Right_ , school. He gets out of bed and doesn’t bother checking his phone when it buzzes on his nightstand. He doesn’t bother going to the shower either, instead just going to his closet, grabbing the first thing he finds and putting it on. He does bother looking at himself in the mirror, though, and is surprised by how his eyes look. After so much crying, he would expect them to be red and puffy, but they look somewhat fine if you ignore his usual dark circles. His expression, however, reflects how he feels. He sighs and, as per usual, grabs his bag and phone before going downstairs.

In the kitchen, breakfast is ready for him, but the coffee has gotten tepid. He gives it a non-enthusiastic sip, before digging into his soggy cereal.

If his parents notice his broodiness, they don’t comment on it. With the state in which he came home the night before, Hongjoong figures they would have, but maybe they decided to give him space, which he’s silently grateful for. His mother does notice the state of his hair tho, as she brushes it with her hands.

“A real bird’s nest,” she comments with a light chuckle. “That’s because of all the bleaching,” his father adds, and Hongjoong rolls his eyes, pulling his hoodie up to hide it.

“Oh my,” Ms. Kim suddenly exclaims, “honey it’s already late you should get going.”

Hongjoong cusses and looks at his phone, checking the time that shows 8:50AM indeed. There’s also a text from Seonghwa, the display name along with all its hearts makes Hongjoong wince.

_Can you bring me my leather jacket back?_

Hongjoong scoffs. _Really?_ He thinks, _Really? Now?_ He sighs but grabs the jacket on the coat rack, heading outside without another word to his parents.

The high school senior walks quickly, and when the sky grumbles before it starts to rain. “Today too? For fuck’s sake...” He starts walking faster, using Seonghwa’s jacket to protect himself.

It’s not very effective and he keeps his eyes downcast to avoid getting droplets in them. With that speed, he should get to his destination in no time, but suddenly a body collides with his, the person’s coffee swinging right at Hongjoong, most of the hot drink falling to the ground inside the cup, but some of it hitting Hongjoong’s legs, burning him through the fabric.

“Fuck!” he shouts, dropping the jacket to grab his leg, separating the jean from his body to somewhat control the damage. It takes only a couple of seconds for his hair to be soaked, and within the ones it takes him to grab the jacket again, his hoodie has started to get wet too.

“Oh my God I’m so sorry,” the girl apologizes profusely and repetitively but Hongjoong doesn’t bother answering, just sending her a glare and getting back on his way, hair sticking to his forehead with rain and jeans sticking to his thighs with coffee.

He’s indeed late when he reaches the school, everyone already making their way to their respective classes, but Hongjoong spots a face all too familiar.

“Hey Park!” he calls dryly, throwing the wet jacket in his _ex_ -boyfriend direction before hurrying to his own room before having to face the man.

The hallways have emptied when Hongjoong knocks on his room’s door. However, when he enters, he freezes on the spot. This clearly isn’t his classroom. Or maybe it is, but inside it is definitely not his class. The freshmen look at him with a strange look on their faces, some of them snickering at him, before Hongjoong closes the door again with a quick apology.

“What the—”

“Hyung!” a voice calls behind him, and he turns around to be met with a smiley Yunho. “Wrong door, hyung.” He chuckles.

“Yeah I must’ve mixed the numbers up...” Hongjoong mumbles, before following Yunho to what the latter decides is the right door. “Wait Yunho that’s—” _The lit room_ ? There must be something wrong because when Yunho opens the door, it’s a literature class. What’s even more wrong is that it is _their_ literature class, with Yeosang towards the back rising up to look at them with a confused look. Maybe Hongjoong just forgot about their schedule change, it happens.

“Sorry Ms. Lee,” Yunho says as he drags Hongjoong inside with him, “our bus had trouble on the way.”

The teacher raises an eyebrow at them, one dry boy living in the south of the city and one soaked boy that lives in the north of the city, but Yunho is quicker. “Hongjoong hyung slept at my place last night because we have a project together in… Physics.”

Yunho isn’t the best liar, but Ms. Lee doesn’t seem to bother with it, dismissing them with a short ‘don’t let it happen again, then’.

“What happened?” Yeosang asks when the two boys take a seat.

“I missed my bus,” Yunho says but Yeosang looks like he’s addressing Hongjoong so he doesn’t add anything and turns to the older, too.

“I, um–” Hongjoong feels the tears come up again but he swallows. “Alarm didn’t go off,” he mumbles. He’s a better liar than Yunho, but Yeosang always sees through it. Although, he doesn’t comment on it, focusing his attention back on the teacher.

“I’m going to collect assignments now,” she says, and Hongjoong frowns.

“Didn’t she already—”

“Mr. Kim? Assignment?”

“I don’t—”

“Don’t have it? A classic. Just because you’re focusing your attention on that physics project doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on my class too. If you knew you were staying at Mr. Jeong’s, you should have brought it with you there.”

“But I—”

She sighs and continues taking the students’ assignments. Including Yunho’s, which Hongjoong is sure he’s seen him turn in the day before. “This attitude isn’t acceptable, everyone, don’t bother handing anything late again this semester.”

Hongjoong frowns. _Wait_ …

“Late work will be graded an automatic F.”

“Are you kidding me?” Hongjoong says a little too loudly, and Ms. Lee turns around.

“Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Kim?”

Hongjoong opens his mouth to speak, and as soon as the words start flowing he regrets it. “Yes I do, it’s only my second time forgetting to hand in an assignment on time, plus punishing the whole class for it is stupid and not a good pedagogy at all.”

The class looks at him with round eyes, including his friends.

“Is that so?” Ms. Lee says, frowning. “Well in that case, if my pedagogy doesn’t suit you, you can feel free to leave my class now, and talk about it with the principal later, yes?”

Hongjoong opens his mouth, but closes it. He sighs and takes his stuff, leaving without another word. Why bother, anyway, because there is something else on his mind.

However, he doesn’t get the time to think about it more as he sees Seonghwa down the hallway. For one second, he wants to run, but then they make eye contact and suddenly the older’s walking towards him. _What does he want_ , Hongjoong thinks.

“I brought your jacket back,” Hongjoong says as he crosses his arms, defensively, “what more do you need? I thought you needed time?”

Seonghwa’s eyes suddenly widen, his mouth agape. “How did you—”

Hongjoong rolls his eyes and looks away, hoping the other can’t see the tears that are threatening to fall again.

“Hongjoong I wanted to—”

“What? Apologize for being too much of a coward to properly break up with me?” the bleached haired boy responds sarcastically, but the effect is ruined by how shaky his voice gets.

“No that’s not—”

“Not a breakup, right,” Hongjoong scoffs. This time, he can’t stop the tears. He pretends they’re not there, but Seonghwa can definitely see them. “Just a break. So you can think about whether I’m worth it or not.”

“Hongjoong,” Seonghwa starts again, and this time Hongjoong looks at him. It’s a mistake, though, because as soon as he looks him in the eye, he realizes what’s going on. “I don’t know how you found out but yes, I want us to take a break. And it doesn’t mean I don’t—”

“No,” Hongjoong speaks softly, walking backward. “No, no, no...”

“What do you mean, no?” Seonghwa frowns, confused. “I know you don’t want to say it back but—”

“No!” Hongjoong shouts, not caring that people inside the classroom he just left can probably hear him. “No stop, don’t!”

He’s not really talking to Seonghwa, not to anyone really, but the brunette can’t help but interpret it that way. “Okay, fine. Maybe we both need some time, after all,” he breathes out before turning around and walking away.

Hongjoong wants to call him back again, but he knows it’s no use. He knows it because he’s already tried, the day before. Or so it feels like to him, but he knows… This day is a curse. It’s happening again, and at the worst time. He takes his phone out and reads the date, his face crumbling. May 5. A _Tuesday_. The same Tuesday that Hongjoong has already lived once. His heart drops.

Of all the days someone could decide to get stuck in a loop, it had to be the _worst one._


End file.
